The present invention generally pertains to handling and deployment of radioactive sources and is particularly directed to apparatus and a methods for handling radioactive sources for deployment of the radioactive sources from a first shielded enclosure to a second shielded enclosure.
In the prior art, a radioactive source, such as Cf-252, is deployed from a first shielded enclosure in which the source is stored to a second shielded enclosure in which the source is used by removing the source from the first shielded enclosure with tongs, inserting the source into a aster tethered on a thin limp cable, and lowering the canister to a given location in the second shielded enclosure through a curved vertically inclined tubular passageway in the second shield enclosure. The passageway is curved to prevent streaming of neutrons out of the passageway and is vertically inclined to the given location so that the tethered source can be lowered by gravity to the given location in the second shielded enclosure.